SternisheFan writes: Chloe Albanesius of PC Mag writes: New York's attorney general today announced that 2,100 registered sex offenders have been kicked off various online gaming platforms as part of an effort known as "Operation: Game Over." Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman teamed up with Gaia Online, NCSOFT Corporation, FunCon, and THQ, and Sony to purge their communities of sex offenders. Earlier this year, the accounts of 3,500 additional offenders were removed from platforms operated by Microsoft, Apple, Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Disney Interactive Media Group, and Warner Brothers.
New York State's Electronic Securing and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP) law requires convicted sex offenders to register all of their email addresses, screen names, and other Internet identifiers with the state. Schneiderman's office then makes that information available to certain websites so they can make sure that their communities were not being used by predators. Operation: Game Over, however, is the first time e-STOP has been applied to online gaming platforms, he said. Since many online gaming platforms let users send messages to other players anonymously, it's unsafe to have convicted offenders using these services, Schneiderman said. He pointed to a 2011 case in which a 19-year-old man met a 12-year-old boy via Xbox Live, gained his trust over a few months, and invited him to his home, where the young boy was abused.